"Miss Aske, the Constable will see you now," the guard said, clad in leather and iron; his sword at his hip.
I smiled, "thank you," and stepped through the door into the office space where a small fat, grey man sat at his desk. When he seen me, he rose immediately, smiling back at me.
"Miss Aske," he said, holding his hand out to offer us two of the seats that sat before him. I felt my face hurt from holding my smile, and allowed myself to drop it in a more serious tone as Kate and I sank into the seats before the desk.
"Mr. Constable," I began, crossing my ankles together, "I was shocked to hear my colleague had found someone so sick within the castle, it is very rare we are ever allowed to make house visits to somewhere so beautiful. May I ask who my patient is, however?"
"We shall get to that in time, Miss Aske, first of all I would like to introduce myself. As you know, I am the Constable of this castle, my name is Adrian Stanley," he said.
"It's an honor to meet you Mr. Stanley, and not to be rude, but I would like to get to know who my patient is as soon as possible. As I am sure you are aware, time is of the essence, and can make all the difference in what I will be able to do for your coworker," I said wanting to get to business. I heard Kate clear her throat next to me, shifting her weight in her chair, and smiling pleasantly enough.
"Of course, I must ask beforehand though, what your policy is on confidentiality?" he asked, intertwining his fingers together.
"Mr. Stanley, we uphold the highest respect for our patients in all aspects of our interaction. We are also obliged not to tell another living soul, outside of who you give us permission to inform, so you can rest assured that whatever is wrong with your master will be treated with swift discretion," I assured him; he nodded his head and looked at his hands.
"My issue is not with what is wrong with the patient, but who the patient is," he said, his gaze darting between Kate and mine.
"You have our word that whoever the patient is will receive no difference of care than any other patient we have had. Again, we will use discretion," I held his gaze for a few seconds, and heard him sigh.
"I suppose it's not like I have much of a choice, he is very sick, you see, and needs a miracle. In truth, I do not know if you can help him, but if you could, you would be rewarded handsomely for your efforts either way. Even if it simply relieves him of the slightest bit of pain."
"Mr. Stanley, can you please tell me who the patient is now that you know that we will not tell anyone of this?" Kate asked from her seat, finally speaking out.
"It is my Lord and Master, the Duke of Cleves." He said, watching my expression.
I absorbed this information for a moment, trying to recall ever hearing of the Duke getting sick whenever I took my training courses before traveling here. I must have zoned out for a few seconds, because when I came back, Kate and the constable were looking at me, waiting for a response.
"Take us to him, Mr. Stanley. On our way there you may tell us all about the patient, and his symptoms that he has been having," I said, eager to get started.
"Of course, if you'll just follow me," he said, rising from his chair and leading us back out the door past the guards.
One thing was sure, I had a feeling in my gut that something awry was going on here, and I did not know if I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Perhaps this was the big break I was looking for, but then again, what if it was my body trying to warn me of troubles ahead?
All I know is that the risk is worth the reward, so I followed the constable through many different doors, growing lost within the massive estate. Allowing this medieval stranger to lead me to god-knows-where, and a fate I was not sure of either.
The Constables office was connected to a set of stairs that led us straight to a hallway that only connected to the Duke and Duchess's chambers. Once we rounded the stone stairs there was an open, and bare hallway with two massive doors along one wall.
Without a word, the Constable led us to the left door, knocking softly and then peeping inside to peer if his master was decent. When he was sure he was, he opened the door and allowed us to be inside.
One step inside, and all the training I had could not have prepared me for the putrid smell of this room. I took my handkerchief out and held it over my nose as the other did the same, an unspoken necessity so that we may all keep our breakfasts I suppose.
We allowed the Constable to lead the way toward the bed- a massive wooden frame with deep red, satin canopies and bed linens. I went to look at the mans face and was distracted by the state of his pillows, soaked in sweat- a ring around his head. The mans eyes were closed, but I could tell they were sunken in; his breathing hollow.
"How long has he been like this?" I asked.
"He's started with a loosening of the stool, and then could not hold down his breakfast, after that, during the night of the first day he began to run a fever that has progressed over the past 3 days. We fear he will not wake at this point," the Constable said.
"Okay, I will need some privacy with him. You may stand outside the door and make sure that no one may enter and disrupt us," I said.
"I will do as you say, please, gentle lady, bring my master back to us," he said before stepping outside the door, closing it behind him with a thud. I walked over to the bed and knelt by the bedside, taking a seat on a stool.
When I looked over at the man, I finally got a good look at his face. While his eyes had been sunken in, he had a beautiful complexion, and deep brown hair that fell just to his eyes. He was a rather handsome man, with a thicker, muscular body than I had seen on a man around here before. I caught myself gawking at the strange, handsome man.
"Uhm, Anne?" Kate said, and I looked up at her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked her, realizing half a second later that I had been caught checking this man out.
"Did I just catch you checking out our patient?" She asked, clearly in shock at my tenacity.
"I guess so.." I face palmed, "i didn't mean to. It's been a while, I have been doing this consistently for 6 months now. You know what that means."
"No time to get laid, yeah, believe me, I know. I had a boyfriend back home, we were supposed to be partners, but I got you instead. They told me they were afraid that male/female partners would end up sleeping together and complicating things," she said with a frown.
"I haven't ever been laid, so I don't know what i'm missing thankfully."
'You're 23 and you've never been laid? Are you serious?" She asked, faking outrage just as our patient groaned beneath us, drawing our attention.
"I think this is it, Kate. I really do. It's not going to be easy getting him through the woods on this, and we may not be able to do it, but we have to give it our best. Either way, i think we've found the sweating sickness we've been assigned to."
"All we have to do now is get a blood and cheek sample from him and send it back to our time, once they send us the confirmation that its what we were looking for then we can go home!" I said, my eyes growing wide and my heart speeding up in excitement.
I reached into my bag, pulling out a thermometer, and pressing the end to the mans forehead.
I sighed, "103.3, that's dangerously high...," I sprayed the end of the thermometer with the alcohol I brought and placed it back into my bag. Let's get him going on a drip, he's severely dehydrated." I checked his heart-rate. "Heart-rate 66 and stable for now, that's good." I got into my bag and handed an IV kit to Kate along with the alcohol, returning my hand to my bag to get the proper medication. I gathered it up into into a syringe, and placed the cap back onto it, setting it aside.
I looked back up at Kate and seen that she had the IV set up, so I came to her side of the bed and gave the man the shot through his IV. "He would need another dosage of this in 72 hours, if he can make it to then, he should be able to pull through," I stood up and got a good look at him, noticing how sweaty and dirty he was. He had soiled his pants for sure if that smell was accurate.
"I'll be right back," I said, looking up at the Canopy, and pulling them all closed so that only the one facing the window- away from sight if someone were to enter the room, was open.
I opened the door carefully, finding the Constable, true to his word, standing just outside.
"Is everything okay?" he immediately asked, panic rising in his voice.
"Yes, I think i'll be able to help him. If he can make it through the next 72 hours, I think he'll make it."
"72 hours? Will you stay with him then? To make sure that he does? We will pay you handsomely for this, I can assure you," he said.
"Thank you, Mr. Constable. Your contributions help me to help other patients who cannot afford me, but first lets make sure I can do the job. I can stay with the Duke until the time is up, to see if he will make it, if that is alright with the Duchess. I would not wish to displease her in her own home."
"No, that's fine. She would hate to see anything happen to her husband as well, so there can be no doubt she will approve. Just in case, I will send a messenger, to be sure."
"Thank you, I would need rooms close to his, if you can't just bring cots into the Duke's rooms. We can both sleep by the fireplace, and take turns waking to feed him.
"You will be able to feed him? Broth? We have already tried that, and he can't hold it down."
"Don't worry about that, I have medicine I am giving him that will make him be able to hold it down, and digest it easier. Slowly, he will gain his strength back, all I have to worry about now is that fever of his. I will need buckets of cold water brought up every 4 hours. They can knock on the door and leave it, one of us shall get it. Is this acceptable?"
"Yes, and I shall get a cot for myself and sleep outside here should you need anything else. I will have the servants bring you a bucket of water, along with your bedding, to get you started."
"Thank you, I shall return to my patient now." I spun on my heel, and headed back inside the room, closing the door back behind me. I walked to the other side of the bed and pulled back the canopy curtains to see Kate fashioning an IV stand out of the bedpost and some string she brought.
"Hey, what did he say?" she said once she noticed me.
"Just that he would get us some beds set up and some cold water too," I said. "Were going to give him a bath, he needs to be clean."
"Oh, of course you do. That's a good one," Kate said, rolling her eyes.
"He's my patient, that's unprofessional. He is dirty, and covered in urine and feces. He needs a bath, and he needs to cool down as well. We have got to get his temperature down before it gets so high it fries his brain."
"Whatever you say, boss. We'll need a tub too though, better go and tell dude man."
"the Constable," I corrected.
"the Constable," she mocked. I furrowed my browns, growing irritated with her as I usually did when she got an attitude.
"You're insufferable sometimes, Kate."
"What's insufferable is having to be stuck in a room, taking care of a patient, basically pulling a 72 hour shift with you. That's insufferable, but i'm going to do it anyway. You're lucky you're smart or I would have requested someone else."
"You just haven't left 2111, have you? We are in 1540, and you just referred to that man as 'dude man' like we didn't have any special training on how to handle being here. We are under no circumstances to break character unless we are doing our duties medically."
"When nobody is around, what does it matter? Are you going to tell on me?"
"No, of course I wouldn't, but you never know with people in this state. He could be hearing every word we've said."
"Yeah, I highly doubt that. Look at him, he can't even lift his head."
"While were waiting on them to bring the water, go tell the constable we also need a cold bath brought up."
"And what are you going to do?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
"I am going to give him a little something for the pain," I said, fishing around in my bag as I do a thousand times a day. Finding what I was looking for, I injected it into the IV port, watching as the man, who was once grunting softly, went quiet, breathing a little easier.
While I gave him the shot, Kate left, and I got a chance to look at the handsome man a little bit more. His eyes might have been sunken in, but I could see long dark lashes. His face was heavily bearded, but you could tell that he usually kept it groomed. His nose was slightly odd, perhaps because it had been broken at one point, but nonetheless, the man was ruggedly attractive. One of the more beautiful men I've seen in this time as a matter of fact.
Kate had returned, catching me checking him out again and coughed to alert me. I jumped, not hearing her return. I placed a hand on my heart, feeling like it could beat out of my heart.
"What is the matter with you, Kate? You nearly killed me i'm telling you!" I squalled at her, and she laughed trying to cover my mouth quickly.
"Shh!" she said covering her lips with her finger, "you're going to wake Prince Charming over there."
"Oh, shove it." I said as she walked back over to her side of his bedside.
I was not going to feel bad if she caught me this time. I was allowed a moment of weakness here and there, it doesn't mean i'd ever act on it. He didn't see me do it, and as long as she shuts the hell up, nobody else will know about this little attraction.